Here Comes The Sun (Power)

Proponents Of Solar Power Say The Technology Is Getting Cheaper, May One Day Compete With Fossil Fuels

(CBS)  Here's a trivia question: What state has installed more solar panels than any other except California?

If you said New Jersey, your solar-energy IQ is brilliant. And if you know why several thousand huge mirrors are splayed across the Mojave Desert in California, consider yourself a solar energy genius, CBS News correspondent Tony Guida reports.

"Every single day when the Sun comes up, we are bathed with enough energy in one day to supply all the power we need for five years across the globe," Stephen Smith, executive director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, said.

Lyle Rawlings has been making a living off that fact for 25 years - he's known as the godfather of solar power in New Jersey. His company's installation of solar panels on a warehouse roof will provide 90 percent of the facility's power. But technology doesn't come cheap.

"Solar power is more expensive than fossil fuel power so our business actually depends on government subsidies," says Rawlings.

But so do the oil business … and the coal business … and the nuclear industry too. The outlook for solar power, though, is brighter than any of those established technologies. General Electric estimates its solar energy division will top $1 billion in annual revenue in three years. JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo are investors in the biggest solar plant built in a generation.

"Solar is the one technology that is decreasing in price, increasing in opportunity and it can be the key part of the solution if we make the right investments today," says Smith.

Which brings us back to those mirrors in the Mojave Desert. No less a cutting-edge giant than Google is heavily invested in similar technology for turning sunlight into power. They're betting, just as New Jersey's godfather of solar, that this country will build a vibrant solar industry before oil and coal run out.

"For us in the solar industry, the holy grail is the point at which the cost of solar power is about equal to the cost of fossil fuel," says Rawlings.

Experts say that should happen in seven to 10 years. And by 2025, one report concludes, solar power can provide 10 percent of the nation's power needs. But that all depends on the government - the sun sets on tax credits for solar energy later this year.

[davebco]

It is my view that all energy use should come from multiple sources: Wind, solar, geothermal, hydrogen fuel cells, conservation... and even the new "Fast Neutron" reactors that are far more efficient and safe than older versions (There was a good Scientific American article several months ago about this promising new technology). I just watched a History Channel special that described how the A Hybrid Car Company is retro-fitting cars with new long-range lithium batteries developed by NASA. I imagine at a cost less than what we have spent in Iraq we could reduce our energy independence by over 50%.

[libsluv2spit]

How can it compete well if the oil industry and the nuclear industry is subsidized so heavily by gov. taxpayer money???

Posted by ttinsly at 10:35 PM : Jul 08, 2008
+ report abuse

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well you can start by stop being so dependent on oil..and start ACTING by conservation..buy some solar panels..

[ifjt]

This is for Terrapin78:

You''re absolutely right, Ray-(GUN) shot down everything that was positive.

[ifjt]

This is for ColonieNY:

I don''t know enough to argue, but the folks here in South Carolina are dead set against Nuclear Plants for whatever reason?

[colonieny]

The answer is NUCLEAR.
The State of Conn- 1/2 of all the electrical needs have been met for decades by just ONE NUCLEAR PLANT !
1/2 !!!!.

[kyesa]

* cost of products should not be compared to how good/bad it is for the environment. your spot basically talked nothing of how much it would take to re-coup your money for the solar system. well, that shouldn''t matter. ''cost'' of the system has no bearing on whether it''s good or not for the enviro. if in the lifetime of the system, it''s less detrimental to the environment, then it''s better for the earth. that concept is a completely separate subject from cost and time to re-coup the cost of the product. basically, it comes down to lifetime carbon foot-print of the product. this same concept also plays into the whole hybrid/electric car concept. are they really "greener" for the environment? or are they "greener" for the consumer pocket-books like the car manufacturers and gvt would like us to believe? i''m not convinced. it''s a fad. we''re trading/shifting pollution from one part of the process to another. (ie. burning gasoline by consumers by burning coal/oil/gasoline to manufacture extra parts that make up these polluting vehicles).

* this may be petit, but some of you shouldn''t even make your posts. you''re so abstract and out there that you made no sense at all. i''m not bashing everyone. but the others know who i''m talking about. are you wanna-be writers hoping to get picked up by CBS themselves? if so, you''ve got no prayer. well, on the other hand, you may be exactly what they''re looking for when comparing your writing to mainstream media. it''s horrendous.

[onmild4]

Your teaser before the commercial break was very deceptive. You questioned the economic competitiveness of solar power, but in the piece you give two concrete examples where people are saving money now with solar: The woman who will pay off her system in 10 years and the business that cut the power costs in half. Clearly solar IS competitive now is specific markets. Why are you so cynical?

[Syndicate]

If you would like to build your own solar system please visit www.mrsolar.com. The guy has a lot of really good information. When I go solar I''ll hit them up for a quote.

[badgersouth1]

The USA has had a government of Big Oil, by big Oil, and for Big Oil during the past eight years. Power to the people! Change is on the way!

[terrapin78]

JTait2 wrote
Food prices are rising.
Families are cutting their vacations short.
Workers are looking for alternative transportation.
Visits to family and friends are being reconsidered.
Public transportation lines are longer.
------------------
IT''''S THE CARTER YEARS ALL OVER AGAIN!

Some schlub in Congress is even talking about bringing back the 55 mph national speed limit.

Posted by txgrouch2006 at 04:03 PM : Jul 06, 2008

And if Ronnie Raygun hadn''t killed all of the initiatives from Jimmy Carters Admin, we''d be in a whole lot better position regarding energy.